Award-winning off-site construction specialist and Portakabin subsidiary, Yorkon, has been awarded contracts totalling more than £5m to build new healthcare facilities at St. Peter’s Hospital in Chertsey, Surrey.
New ward accommodation, St Peters HospitalThese latest contracts bring the value of Yorkon’s work in the healthcare sector so far this year to over £20m.
With this latest investment, the local community in Chertsey will benefit from a new purpose-designed day surgery unit and additional ward accommodation providing 56 in-patient beds for emergency admissions.
Both buildings have now been manufactured off-site and craned into position over three weekends to reduce disruption to hospital staff and patients, and remove the need for decanting. This more innovative approach to construction will also ensure a faster programme time.
Designed by Todd Architects, the two-storey ward block will comprise 10 four-bed wards and 16 single bedrooms. Additional facilities include a nurse’s station, bathrooms, toilets, patient’s day room, discharge lounge, offices, staff room and a link to the main hospital ‘street’. Externally, the scheme will be clad in brickwork, rendered panels and cedar boarding to create an attractive finish as the building is prominently located at the Duchess of Kent Wing, one of the main hospital entrances.
The day surgery unit, which will be fitted out by Yorkon and linked to the main hospital building, will comprise an operating theatre, anaesthetics room, preparation area, reception and a 12-bed recovery ward.
Commenting on the construction projects, Peter Curtis, Capital Projects Manager for Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospital NHS Trust, said, “The locations of both of these new schemes are constrained by other buildings on this busy hospital site. Moving much of the construction work off-site and into a factory has allowed us to expand the facilities at St. Peter’s with as little disruption to the running of the hospital as possible.”
He added, “These are challenging projects and I am pleased to report that we have been impressed by the efficiency of the cranage and installation process. Off-site construction was more cost-effective for these two schemes than site-based building methods. It is also important to have both buildings fully operational quickly in order for us to complete a major reorganisation of service provision ahead of the busy winter months. The modular approach will enable us to achieve this.”
The two construction projects undertaken by Yorkon are part of a £13m reconfiguration programme which involves the relocation of emergency and medical services to St. Peter’s Hospital and elective surgery to Ashford Hospital including the creation of an Orthopaedic Treatment Centre and rehabilitation services at that hospital.
